The original dynamic duo might be catching the bus after news that the Batmobile from the 1960s television show - for many fans, the car that will always be the true Batmobile - will be auctioned next month.

The car is likely to get bids of more than $2 million when it goes under the hammer in the US on January 19, although auction house Barrett-Jackson has not released an estimate.

But the car that hit rocket-thruster icon status in the schlock small-screen show was not born as the black-finned, bat-gadget model that shot it to fame.